


Paper Rings

by TeaTimee



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: #let lena be happy 2019, Alternate Reality, F/F, Gay, Lena is really sad, bed sharing, kind of based on the Family Man with nicholas cage, she just wants to be loved, wakes up married
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2020-12-28 14:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21138131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaTimee/pseuds/TeaTimee
Summary: Lena Luthor wakes up in a strange bed in a strange house, apparently married to her best friend with two children who call her ‘Mama'.This is loosely based on the Family Man movie with Nicholas Cage, I haven’t seen it in years but I remember enjoying it and I wrote this so here you go.





	1. Wish Upon A Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been completely rewritten, I took out a BUNCH of stuff and added a lot more, its gone from barley 2000 words to almost 7000 and I like it a lot more, chapter two will probably follow for editing but I doubt there will be anywhere near as much changed as there was in this chapter. I'm really proud of the work I've done on this and i really hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as i did writing it.

L-Corp stood tall against the National City skyline, dark except for the blue luminescence of the neon sign bearing its name and two windows, glowing yellow in the night sky, one in the lobby of the building and the other at the very top, just under the luminescent blue sign. The office of the CEO.

Lena Luthor, owner and CEO of L-Corp, shifted in her desk chair, stretching her tired back muscles as she glanced at the glowing numbers in the corner of her computer screen.

_ 10:53 pm _

A yellow post-it note was stuck to the edge of the screen just underneath the display, _ Don’t work late! _scrawled across it in her assistant’s familiar handwriting. Lena tugged gently at the yellow paper, peeling it off the screen and crumpling it in her hand before dropping it into her wastepaper basket with a roll of her eyes. 

“Thanks, Jess.” She muttered under her breath before reaching for the next stack of papers and pulling them towards her. Another yellow note was stuck to the first page. _ I mean it, If it’s past 7 go home NOW! _

It landed in the basket next to the first.

There were a total of four more notes in the stack, each occupying the front of its own page.

_ You’re not supposed to start this one until tomorrow, remember? _

Another eye roll from Lena. Another crumpled note in the basket.

_ Have you at least had dinner? _

“Yes.” Lena scoffed slightly. Flipping the page only to be greeted by yet another note.

_ A glass of scotch and a granola bar doesn't count as dinner. _

This one bounced as it was deposited in the basket with a little more force than its predecessors. She flipped the page.

_ Lena, I swear to god. _

The CEO sat back in her chair and sighed exasperatedly, looking at the papers spread out on her desk in front of her. She massaged the tense muscles at the back of her neck, breathing deeply as she swivelled in her chair around to look out at the sparkling skyline of National City. Though it was a busy place most businesses in the city shut down after 9 pm on weekdays, save the occasional nightclub and late-night pizzerias that catered to their patrons who would stumble through their doors in the late hours of the evening before heading back home to whatever kind of dreary life that drove them to go out clubbing on a weeknight.

As a result of the early bedtime of the city, few lit windows accompanied Lena’s, those that did were usually either the result of security lights and the rare night shift worker. Most of the lights masking the stars in this city were neon logos like her own, sitting at the top of corporate buildings like birds perched on telephone poles.

It was a stark contrast to Metropolis, Lena’s previous home, where hers would often not even be the last office light extinguished, even on the nights where she worked into the early hours of the morning.

Lena liked the collective early nights of the city though, it had a certain charm and the lack of traffic and shouting that had often drifted up from the streets in her old office made it easier to work. She had even found herself leaving earlier than was her usual back in Metropolis, though perhaps the reason for that wasn’t entirely the influence of the early nights the inhabitants here adhered to, Lena mused.

A flash of red caught the corner of her vision and pulled her from her thoughts. Lena turned her head to follow the movement but it disappeared before her tired eyes could focus.

Lena shook her head and stretched again, her muscles still tense from hours hunched over paperwork, arching her back and relishing the feeling of blood rushing back into her muscles and endorphins flowing through her body.

If she was imagining flashes of colour, perhaps she _ should _ entertain the idea of heading home soon, but there was so much work to be done, running a company wasn’t easy, especially as a woman and a young one at that, most of her peers were older white men which meant she had to work twice as hard to make them see her as an equal in the business world. Many had made it clear that they preferred her brother over her, no matter that he was a murderer. One particularly horrible old man had told her to her face, “That has nothing to do with how he ran the company.” Lena had almost punched him.

A buzzing came from behind her, pulling her from her thoughts, and she reached back to retrieve her phone from the desk behind her, waking the device with the push of a button. A notification indicating that she had received a message was floating on her lock screen and her heart leapt in her chest when she read the sender’s name, all thoughts of horrible old men chased from her brain in an instant. 

Last year Lena’s phone had been a vessel for work and nothing more, silent outside of office hours unless there was some late-night emergency. If she heard the ding of her message tone after 8 pm she would immediately begin running contingency plans in her head and mentally preparing for a night of hurried phone calls and emails. Now the late-night message tone had become much more frequent and welcome, less indicative of an emergency and more closely related to the warm feeling in her chest she was feeling now.

Her heart would leap in anticipation and flutter joyfully when the screen lit up, texts filling her days and nights with sunshine and emojis, a nice reprieve from boring board meetings and endless paperwork she had grown accustomed to. The feelings she got from the constant messages were nothing compared to what Lena felt in the presence of the sender, who had trailed into Lena’s office behind Clark Kent one day and left with Lena’s heart. 

Lena had always been weak for pretty girls and Kara Danvers was no exception, all radiant smiles and fiddling with her glasses and Lena was utterly enamoured from the very first moment she had laid eyes on the blonde.

Throughout the first few weeks of their friendship Lena had flirted shamelessly, but the other woman had remained seemingly oblivious, it wasn’t as if she didn’t react, giggling at Lena’s flirty compliments and blushing at her raised eyebrows and bitten lips. It had been these reactions that gave Lena hope that her feelings might be returned by the other woman and she had stepped up her game, even going so far as to fill Kara’s office with flowers, an act so obviously romantic that she had been sure Kara would have caught on to Lena’s feelings but Kara had smiled and called Lena her ‘friend’ and her heart had plummeted.

Lena was no stranger to unrequited love, she had fallen for many a straight girl in her lifetime, but that was part of the problem. Kara had never spoken about her sexuality to Lena specifically which, unfortunately, left room for hope. And hope was Lena’s downfall. 

As much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, there was a part of her that _ hoped _. It was a part that she tried to tuck away at the back of her mind and ignore but came alive every time Kara sent her a flurry rainbow emojis in a text (surely no completely straight woman would use so many?) or when she flashed that blinding smile of hers, the one reserved just for Lena and a very specific doughnut from Noonan’s. Though she tried, nothing seemed to be able to put out the spark.

Then, at a movie night that Kara had insisted on hosting when she found out Lena had never watched a Disney movie, Kara had solved that problem by dousing the flame for her.

They were curled up on Kara’s faded blue couch, both wrapped in a haphazardly knitted quilt that Kara had made herself as a teenager.

“Band camp is _ cool _, Lena!” She had insisted after Lena had finally prodded the origin story out of her and then laughed at the idea of a tiny Kara taking a break from tuba practice to struggle with a pair of knitting needles in the Craft Hut.

A few peals of laughter and a pillow in the face later, Kara got serious. “So, you know James?”

Lena stiffened, James had been the only one in Kara’s friend group who still seemed to judge her based on her last name, some people, like Winn (who had his own issues with being judged based on the actions of immediate family members), hadn’t batted an eye at her last name, others, like Kara’s sister Alex, had been wary at first but warmed up in time. But it was no secret that James Olsen had worked closely with Superman and couldn’t seem to get past the fact that a Luthor would sometimes join them for drinks at their favourite bar.

“Of course.” Lena tried not to let the stiffness in her body seep into her voice.

“Well…” Kara was looking down at her hands, twisting the knitted yarn of the blanket in her fingers anxiously, Lena could see a dusting of pink on her cheeks and she felt her heart drop into her stomach.

“I’ve been having…” Kara breathed in nervously, “feelings, for him.”

Lena reached for her wine, leaning towards the coffee table and taking advantage of the second she was out of her friend’s field of vision to compose her face into a perfect mask of support and interest. She had a feeling she would be needing another glass, sooner rather than later.

“Really?” Lena took a larger than normal sip of her wine and hoped that the feigned interest in her tone seemed genuine enough to fool Kara. Apparently it did because Kara beamed up at her and launched into a detailed explanation of exactly when she realised she had feelings for the man. Each word that fell from her lips was a blow to Lena’s heart and she left that evening with a blackened hole in her chest, the only remnant of the flicker of hope that had leapt into being the first time she had laid eyes on Kara.

  
  


A week later, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Lena’s flame suddenly sparked during brunch at a new vegan place (it had been Lena’s turn to choose the restaurant). Kara had scrunched up her nose adorably at the menu, _ “It’s not real food, Lena!” _and then made a show of forcing down a quinoa burger.

Kara dejectedly filled her in on how she had planned to tell James of her feelings for him but was thwarted when his ex, Lucy Lane, made a sudden reappearance. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the fact that Kara had decided to step aside and let her feelings go that rekindled the fire, but the way she talked about Lucy, the ex-girlfriend.

“She’s insanely beautiful and badass, she’s super smart, she even _ smells _ great!” Kara had thrown her hands up in defeat. “Even _ I _ want to date her and I can’t deny them the chance to be happy. It would be selfish.” 

That interaction had almost cemented Lena’s suspicion that Kara was less than straight, after all, what straight woman talked about someone like that? Especially if the said woman was their competition. Though she felt for her friend, she also couldn’t fight the elation that came at the (almost) confirmation that Kara was also attracted to women.

She had been there for Kara in the time that followed, brunches at all of Kara’s favourite places in an effort to take her mind off Lucy and James, a night where she sat through all of Kara’s favourite movies (even the one about the Kung Fu fighting animals) and she even had a whole box of Kara’s favourite doughnuts sent to her office. 

After the whole ordeal had seemingly blown over, Lena had briefly entertained the idea of just telling Kara about her less than friendly feelings. But that had fallen through when Kara had unexpectedly dropped into Lena’s office with a box of pastries and the news that Lucy Lane had left National City. It was Lena’s turn to step aside for the sake of a friend’s happiness so she had made the decision to put her feelings for Kara to bed for good.

Lena shook her head and unlocked her phone to read the message her best friend had sent her.

  
  


_ Are you STILL working? _ 🤨☹️😯📒📈📉📊🕙🌙🌛😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

  
  


A rush of endorphins spiked though her, not entirely unrelated to the fact that Kara was checking up on her. She was allowed to be happy that her totally platonic friend was looking out for her, wasn’t she? Lena tapped out a reply. 

  
  


_ That’s a lot of emojis _

  
  


Kara’s response was almost instant

  
  


_ I love emojis _ 😍😍😀😀😀🌻🌻🥡🥡🌈🌈 

_ Don’t avoid the question _ 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

  
  


_ I’m just about to leave _

  
  


_ Lena! It's past 11!!!!!!!!!!! _😮😮💀💀💥💥😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲

_ Have you had dinner????????????🍕🍟🍕🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟🍕🍕 _

  
  


_ Maybe _

  
  


_ LENA!!!!!!!!! _😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

  
  


_ I’ve been busy _

  
  


_You need to EAT!!!!_ _🥘🍕🌭🥪🍲🌮🥣🌯🥗 (I put a salad in for you _😀_)_

  
  


_ Thanks, Kara _

_ I’ll eat when I get home don’t worry _

  
  


_ Promise???? _🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨

  
  


_ Of course _

  
  


Lena sighed and swung her chair back around to face the desk, now that she thought about it she _ was _ hungry and it was getting quite late. She stood for the first time in hours, her muscles protesting after so long in the same position, Lena took a few seconds to balance herself and let the blood flow through her body properly again before she straightened up her desk and headed for the door, pausing for a moment to double-check that she hadn’t forgotten any of her belongings. 

She flicked the main light off and took one last look back into her office, now bathed in the faint light emanating from the buildings outside. She almost thought she caught another flash of red on the other side of the large windows but it was now too dark to tell. She dismissed the thought and turned, walking out into the reception area.

She had just called the elevator when her phone buzzed again.

  
  


_ Lunch tomorrow?? _🙂😍

  
  


_ Sure _

  
  


😁😁😁😀😀😀😀😀🥞🥞🥓🥙🥙🌯🌯🌮🌮🥪🥪🌭🍕🍟🍔🍔🍟🌭🥪🍳🥘🍲🍲🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈✨✨✨✨✨✨

  
  
  


Lena’s heart fluttered and she tried not to think too hard about the number of rainbows Kara had just used or the heart eyes emoji in her message asking Lena to a very platonic lunch. _ Get it under control, Luthor. _

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Lena tucked her phone into her purse and made her way through the foyer, heels echoing through the empty space.

“Good evening, Miss Luthor.” The night security guard was already waiting for her, ready to punch in the code to unlock the main doors and release the CEO out into the night. Lena quickly tapped out a message to her driver, asking him to bring her car around and came to a stop a few feet from the large glass doors.

“How are you, Dan?” Lena smiled. 

Dan was a kind old man, wrinkles framed his face from years of laughter and he always had a smile for Lena as she headed home. They were often the only two people left in the building after normal office hours and Lena had taken to stopping for a quick chat with him at the end of her very long workdays. 

She had grown accustomed to hearing his deep voice calling to her from across the lobby, he had a calming presence and their late-night chats sometimes made her think that maybe this is what it would have been like to have a grandfather or even a father who wasn’t cold and distant as her own had been.

“I’m well, my Lucy is turning three this weekend, she’s getting so big!” Dan held out his phone, proudly displaying a picture of his family, Lucy front and centre, her chubby arms wrapped around a stuffed duck, Lena took the offered phone from his outstretched hand to inspect the photo, the brown-haired toddler was sitting on the lap of a smiling woman around Lena’s age with Dan standing behind them, looking down at his daughter and granddaughter like they put the stars in the sky, one hand planted firmly on the woman’s shoulder. Lena felt a tiny tug of longing in her chest as she looked at the portrait but she brushed it away and handed the phone back to the security guard.

“I brought her that for her last birthday and she hasn’t let it out of her sight since.” He chuckled fondly tapping the glowing screen to indicate the duck. “We’re throwing her a birthday party on Saturday, you should come along! I talk your ear off about them so much you’d know my girls about as well as I do now. I’m sure you and Lorraine would get on like a house on fire!” 

Lena’s heart swelled at the offer and she smiled at him warmly, “Dan, I am so honoured that you would think to invite me but I have an important meeting on Monday and I need to spend the weekend preparing, I probably won’t have the time.”

He nodded kind-heartedly as he tucked his phone away in his breast pocket, “you let me know if you change your mind, we’d love to have you around.”

Lena’s car pulled up outside the doors and Dan punched the code in to open the night deadlock, holding out his hand for Lena to shake, she took it, her pale skin cutting a stark contrast with his dark, calloused fingers.

“I certainly will. Have a good night.”

“You too, Miss Luthor.” He waved her down the steps where her driver was already holding the car door open and ready for her. Lena watched him head back to his office as her driver pulled away from the curb.

It was a short journey from L-Corp to her apartment and twenty minutes later she was unlocking her front door and stepping into her penthouse. She pulled off her heels with a sigh of relief and dropped them in the entrance, padding quietly into her open plan kitchen and living room and heading for the sink, pulling out the myriad of hairpins that held her sleek bun in place, a small pile accumulating on the kitchen counter before she retrieved a glass and a bowl and fork from the drying rack, filling the glass with water and placing everything on the counter across from her.

Lena opened her fridge and pulled out a pre-made salad and a bottle of dressing, she took her seat at the kitchen counter and pulled open the plastic bag, emptying the greens into the bowl, dousing it with dressing and stabbing her fork into the mess of greens and dressing. The sound of cutlery scraping echoed through her empty apartment. 

Half an hour later Lena was gratefully sliding into the silk sheets of her king-sized bed. A few minutes ago her phone had lit up with yet another text from Kara, double-checking that Lena had eaten and wishing her goodnight, accompanied by a very cute selfie of her in her own bed, the neck of her red pyjama top peeking out from underneath her fluffy duvet, reminding Lena of her own red university sweatshirt that had gone missing about a week ago. Perhaps she had accidentally left it at Kara’s during their last movie night? She’d have to remember to ask her in the morning, Lena mused as she sank down into her pillows and her eyes drifted shut.

  
  
  


*

*

  
  
  


“You work too much,” Jess greeted Lena as she stepped through the elevator doors into the reception area on the top floor of the L-Corp building. Lena stepped around her secretary and continued on her way towards the gleaming white doors that lead to her office. 

“I only just got here Jess, I haven't even _ started _working yet.”

Jess ignored her, following close behind as Lena pushed the doors open and hung up her coat.

“I’ve been working for you for three years, Lena, you’ve never had a day off! Remember when you were hit by that car? You worked from the _ hospital! _ Who _ does _that?”

Lena waved her off, “I was fine, just a few scrapes and bruises.”

“You had three broken bones, Lena, most people would have taken a week or two off _ at least. _”

“Is there a point to this, Jess? Or can I get started with my day?” Lena sat down in her office chair and powered up her desktop.

Jess crossed her arms over her chest and stared Lena down across her desk. “You need a CFO.”

Lena felt her expression harden, she put her hands on her desk and leaned forward intimidatingly, “I am perfectly capable of running this company on my own, thank you, Jess.” She glowered but her assistant stood her ground, glaring back.

“That’s not the _ point _, Lena, and you know it. You need a life outside of work! You need friends.”

“I have friends.”

“Please, Lena, we both know that _ I’m _your only friend.” 

Lena opened her mouth to reply but Jess ploughed on, “Which is fine, I like being friends but you should have more than one.”

“I have Kara,” Lena supplied defensively.

“That’s still only two.” Jess pointed out, “And you barely have time to manage that, you only really meet Kara for brunch and when was the last time we went out?”

“We went to that bar the other week.”

“And you left early.” 

“I had to deal with a crisis.”

“No, you freaked out because that girl hit on you.”

“I did not ‘freak out’.” Lena could feel a blush creeping up her neck, she remembered the girl from the night in question, tall and beautiful with cascading blonde hair and extremely muscular arms. She had spotted Lena from the other side of the bar and made a beeline for her, boldly running a hand up Lena’s arm and throwing her head back in delighted laughter when Lena made a half-hearted joke, briefly enjoying the attention before the memory of another blonde laughing flashed across her mind and panic set in.

“You definitely did, and _ then _you came back to the office.” Jess accused her.

“How do you even know-”

“I’m _ very _good friends with Dan.” 

“Since when do you talk to Dan?”

“The fact that you even know who he is proves my point!”

“I make a point to know all of my employees.” Lena shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

“Please,” Jess scoffed, “You only talk to him because you’re the only two people in this building after 9 pm.”

Jess was right, though Lena thoroughly enjoyed her late-night chats with Dan she knew that if she worked hours that even slightly resembled any of her other employees she probably wouldn’t have even met the older, let alone know the names of his daughter and granddaughter.

“It takes a lot to run a company, Jess.”

“That’s exactly my point, _ Lena. _” Jess plucked a stack of papers from Lena’s desk and set them in front of her boss.

“What is this?” Lena eyed the stack in front of her.

“Resumes. For CFO candidates.” Jess’ face softened, “Just look at them, please.” 

Lena didn’t answer, instead, she looked away from Jess entirely, turning to her computer and logging in. She heard her friend sigh and leave, the office door clicking shut behind her.

Lena shoved the resumes in the bottom drawer of her desk.

  
  
  


*

*

  
  
  
  


It was just past 1 pm when there was a knock on the office door.

“Come in.” Lena leaned forward over her desk, straightening some loose papers. “Jess I’m-”

“Nope, not Jess! Just me!” a cheerful voice came through the door, followed by an equally cheerful Kara Danvers, looking extremely cute in a yellow sundress and cardigan. “She’s having lunch, which is what you should also be doing.”

Lena sighed and smiled, pushing her chair away from her desk in order to greet her friend.

“Kara.” Lena smiled warmly at the other woman.

“Hey.” Kara Danvers stepped around the desk as Lena stood, pulling the CEO into a warm hug. Lena closed her eyes for a second, melting into the contact and inhaling deeply. She loved the way Kara smelled, sweet and vanillary, like she had just pulled a batch of fresh cookies out of the oven. Today there was a faint and puzzling undercurrent of charcoal.

“I brought lunch!” Kara pulled away and held up some takeaway bags, moving back around to the coffee table and couch that occupied the other side of Lena’s office and beginning to set out the extremely large amount of food. 

“I was going to come earlier but there was a f- an interview. I, uh, I had to interview someone last minute for an article and you know how Snapper gets…” She sat down on the couch and patted the space next to her, lifting a cardboard takeaway container up from the pile on the table.

“I even went to that vegan place for you! I think this is supposed to be a burger of some kind…” The blonde looked at the box like it personally offended her, no doubt remembering her recent run-in with the quinoa burger, and Lena quickly joined her on the couch, relieving Kara of the container before she changed her mind and threw it out for “pretending to be real food”.

“Thank you, Kara.” Lena’s stomach did a slight flip at the thought of the junk food-loving blonde braving a vegan restaurant just to make Lena happy.

Kara beamed at her, mouth already full of potstickers, “Mo proflem.”

They made light conversation in between bites, Lena thoroughly enjoying her burger while secretly being amazed at the amount of food Kara could fit in her mouth at once and still make half coherent sentences. Kara chatted away about her work at CatCo, the latest article she was working on and how they had changed the brand of cookies they stocked in the staff room, much to Kara’s disappointment.

Lena, in turn, filled Kara in on the latest projects she had been planning and how excited she was to finally get back down in the R&D labs, the place she spent most of her free time and her usual lunch hangout before Kara had started regularly dropping in on her. She had been spending less time on the practical side of her job than she wanted recently but, she reminded herself, it couldn’t be helped, she did have a company to run after all.

An hour or so later Kara’s many takeout containers had been recycled and the reporter was getting ready to leave.

“So aside from making sure you ate today,” Kara began as she retrieved her bag from the floor next to the couch, Lena opened her mouth to protest but Kara cut her off, “Because I _ know _you forget so don’t even think about trying to convince me otherwise-” 

The CEO huffed indignantly at the stern look Kara was giving her but let her friend continue as they slowly moved towards the office doors.

“I was thinking maybe we could-” the blonde faltered and Lena’s heart sped up slightly. “Well, it’s just- tomorrow's game night, Winn and Maggie and Alex are coming over- and - and James too and I was wondering if you’d like to come?” 

_ Oh _.

Lena’s breath hitched, as much as she was trying to be supportive of her friend, she wasn’t about to buy front row tickets to watch the woman she was struggling to forget her feelings for flirt with a man, “Kara-”

“I know you’ve had issues with James before, but I’ve been talking to him about it and he’s promised to try harder-” Kara sighed slightly and rubbed the back of her neck. 

A shiver of irritation crawled up Lena’s spine at the thought of Kara and James spending time alone together.

“Maggie’s making brownies...” Kara offered, her blue eyes big and full of hope. Lena’s heart sank as she realised what she needed to do. 

“I’d love to but-” She cast her eyes around for a good enough excuse and her eyes landed on the desk piled high with paperwork, “I just don’t think I have the time.” She gestured towards her workspace.

Kara’s face visibly fell, “Oh, that’s ok!” The disappointment in her tone was poorly masked and it _ almost _made Lena cave. “I could bring you lunch again tomorrow though? If you’re free? Someone has to make sure you eat.” 

Her smile was back as soon as it had left and she laughed endearingly at her own joke.

Lena fought the urge to agree instantly. _ Space, Lena, you need space or you’re never going to let these feelings go. _

“I’m sorry, Kara I can’t, I just have so much to get through.” 

“I’ve got it, don’t worry! Another time!” Kara gave her a vanilla-scented hug goodbye and then she was gone, the office door clicking shut behind her.

Lena sank back down onto the couch and rested her head in her hands. _ This is a good decision, _ she reasoned with herself, _ You can’t see Kara every day, space is the only way to get over this stupid crush. _

Lena sat for a moment, trying to convince herself that she was making a good decision, before heading towards her desk and the piles of paperwork she had to get through.

  
  


*

*

Lena fought a yawn as she stepped out of her car in front of her apartment building. It was late, even for her standards, and she was exhausted. She had spent the rest of the day among piles of paperwork and preparing for her meeting on Monday, doing her best not to think about the reporter. A task that had proved itself near impossible, given the almost constant barrage of texts the blonde would send her throughout the day, Lena’s phone was constantly lighting up with restaurant suggestions for their next lunch, Kara’s seemingly random thoughts and pictures of dogs she had seen throughout the city. 

Lena waved her driver off and turned towards the entrance to her building, as she stepped forward her heel caught in a crack in the sidewalk and she stumbled, instinctively her hands reached out in front of her and she braced herself for the cold concrete but an arm reached out and grabbed her elbow just in time, steadying her.

“Careful there Ma’am, are you alright?” An older gentleman with a kind face and greying hair stood in front of her, he was dressed in a dark navy blue suit with gold trimmings and a matching hat, the colours of her building, and his name was engraved in simple script on his white name tag. _ Bill. _Of course, she had been notified earlier in the month that a new doorman had been employed and would be starting soon as their current one had reached his retirement. Lena hadn’t been able to attend his retirement party due to work commitments but had shown her gratitude for the man by sending an extremely generous final tip.

“Thank you, I’m alright,” Lena reassured him, smiling kindly at the old man and straightening her jacket.

“I’m glad,” He replied, extending a hand towards her in greeting, “Name’s Bill, I’m the new doorman here.”

“Lena Luthor, I live in the penthouse, I also own the building.” Lena took his hand and shook it firmly. 

“Very pleased to meet you, Miss Luthor.”

“Likewise.” 

The older man stepped back, tucking his hands into his jacket pockets and looking up at the sky. 

“Nice night isn’t it? You can’t usually see so many stars.” He commented and Lena followed his gaze up, he was right. The stars sparkled above them, tiny pinpricks of silver in the velvet dark of the night sky. She took a moment to enjoy the view, breathing in the silence of the city, a small silver streak flew across the sky. 

“A shooting star!” She could hear the old man’s delight in his voice, “Make a wish, Miss Luthor!”

Lena thought about the empty apartment that was waiting for her on the other side of the entrance doors. Her stomach lurched with sadness and her conversation with Jess flashed through her mind. 

_ You need to make time for things other than work. _

But what would she wish for? She worked for the things she had, she had built her family’s company back up again from the ground, turned it into a force for good, she had worked to change her image with the press and the public. She didn’t believe in wishes.

  
  


*

*

  
  
  


Lena had just finished filling a glass with water when a soft tap on her balcony doors made her jump. She spun around quickly and almost dropped her glass, a red-caped figure was standing on her balcony, faintly lit from behind by the streetlights stories below. Lena’s brow furrowed, what could National City’s caped crusader want with her? It was so late at night that it was almost pushing into the morning, she placed her glass on the kitchen counter and headed over to unlock the balcony doors.

“Supergirl! You scared me.” Lena greeted her, stepping aside to allow the hero entry to her home.

“My apologies, Miss Luthor, but I come bearing gifts.” The blonde held a brown paper bag out. The inviting smell of chow mein drifted up from the ba, Lena arched an eyebrow in a silent question.

“It’s from Kara Danvers,” Supergirl answered and Lena’s heart clenched.

“Of course it is.” She couldn’t help a small smile from creeping onto her face, only Kara would use her connections to the superhero of National City to make sure Lena ate dinner. “Thank you.” Lena took the offered bag gratefully.

Supergirl flashed her a blinding smile, “It’s my job.” 

Lena made her way back to the kitchen counter, placing the food down and retrieving her glass of water from its position on the marble surface.

“Delivering late night take out to Kara’s friends?” Lena took a sip of water, “I don’t recall that being in the job description of a superhero.”

Supergirl was hovering just inside the balcony doors, she hadn’t moved to follow Lena any deeper into the apartment and as Lena watched over the rim of her glass the super raised her hand absentmindedly, her fingers heading towards the bridge of her nose in an extremely familiar gesture then diverting at the last second to brush aside her blonde curls. Lena’s eyebrows pulled together as she tried to remember exactly where she’d seen that moment before. 

“I serve the people of National City and, last time I checked, you fall into that category.” Her smile shifted, becoming more relaxed and familiar, something seemed to linger just behind that smile, something Lena couldn’t quite place her finger on and it joined her previous gesture to tug at the edges of Lena’s memory. 

“Would you like a drink?” The CEO offered, leaning on the counter to let her weary muscles rest for a minute.

“Oh- um- thank you but I have, uh, superheroing to get back to.” The blonde bobbed a little and circled her fists around each other in what looked like a miniature imitation of a character in old arcade games, cartoons gearing up to punch each other.

“Of course, I should probably be getting ready for bed anyway.” Lena nodded, she was feeling more tired by the second.

“Don’t forget to eat your dinner,” Supergirl reminded her, with a smile and half-wave towards the bag on the counter.

“I won’t,” Lena replied, standing up and making her way over towards the balcony to bid the superhero goodbye, “Thank you again, Supergirl.” 

The blonde made a move as if to step closer to Lena, hesitating at the last moment resulting in her awkwardly swaying on the spot, just outside of the brunette’s personal bubble. Lena caught the slight scent of vanilla as Supergirl’s blonde hair fell over her shoulders with the movement. 

“Lena I-” The alien stopped abruptly and cocked her head slightly, her Kryptonian hearing picking up something Lena’s couldn’t and her face fell slightly, “I have to go.”

Lena tried to ignore the swooping disappointment in her gut at the thought of Supergirl leaving, she shrugged and nodded, “You have ‘superheroing’ to do.” 

Supergirl laughed quietly before her expression changed into something Lena couldn’t quite read. The hero took a step towards her and Lena was suddenly acutely aware of the lack of space between them. Lena looked up into her blue eyes and she felt her heart inexplicably speed up. 

“Lena,” There was something in her voice, she said Lena’s name with such weight and Lena couldn’t fathom why. This woman barely knew her, they had worked together occasionally and Supergirl had saved her life more than once but she would be lying if she classed the hero as anything other than a casual acquaintance. So how was it that they were currently standing with less than a foot of space between them? Lena could feel warm breath ghosting over her cheeks. 

“There’s something-” Supergirl cut off suddenly, huffing with irritation and taking a step backward, she turned slightly away from Lena, breaking the spell. “Okay, okay, I’m coming!” She sighed and turned back towards the brunette with an apologetic smile, “Sorry, duty calls.” she gestured to her ear, “That was my team.”

“Well, thank you again, Supergirl.” Lena tried to calm her heartbeat, shaking her head slightly to clear it.

“Anytime,” The blonde rocked back on her heels and turned to step out onto the balcony. She closed the doors gently behind her before turning and tapping on the glass, pointing towards the handles.

“Lock this!” Her voice was somewhat muffled by the glass and Lena smiled and nodded at the superhero, returning her vigorous wave with her own small tired one and watching her shoot up into the sky and out of sight.

Lena locked the doors and pulled her phone from her jacket pocket, tapping out a quick thank you message to Kara, along with a quip about using her connections to turn Supergirl into a delivery girl. Kara replied seconds later with an explosion of emojis and a _ ‘Supergirl owes me some favours, she was more than happy to help out.’ _

Lena chuckled and tucked her phone away before pulling the plastic lid off the still-warm chow mein, as she ate she tried not to think about what it would be like to come home to a different blonde waiting with dinner, a brightly lit kitchen filled with mainstream pop music and laughter. She sighed and let herself indulge in the fantasy for a second, imagining Kara lighting up as she came through the door, taking Lena in her arms and dancing around the kitchen. Kara would insist on eating at the dining table rather than the counter and Lena would kiss her on the cheek and help wash up. 

Lena sighed and stood, throwing her empty container in the sink to be washed tomorrow, she sped through her nighttime routine and minutes later she was sinking into bed. She rolled over and her gaze settled on her window, she had forgotten to close the curtain and it wouldn’t be long before fingers of sunlight would be creeping up over the skyline. For now, the sky was velvety black, punctured by silver stars. Lena reluctantly rolled out of her bed and padded to the window, she was just about to pull the curtain shut when a glimmer of light caught her eye, another shooting star trailed across the velvet black.

The second one she had seen that night, someone less scientifically inclined might call it a sign, the universe pushing her to dream for something more. Lena paused, watching as the meteor flickered out of sight, she thought of her empty apartment and the large, empty bed behind her and, just for a second, she let herself wish.

It was childish, she knew, to pin your hopes on tiny bits of dust and rock that ignited as they hit the planet’s atmosphere. But it couldn’t hurt, after all, her wish was impossible anyway and she was under no false hope that it might come true. Lena closed her curtains and sank back into her bed, double-checking that her alarm was set before allowing herself to sink into sleep.

  
  
  
  



	2. Strange Bedfellows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena wakes up in a strange bed in a strange life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Niamh is irish and pronounced Neeve (like leave or grieve), her nickname is Niamhy pronounced Neevie (like Stevie)

Lena woke up warm and comfortable. She stirred, still half asleep and rolled over, burrowing further into the warm centre of the bed. She wasn’t usually one for sleeping in but it was so nice and cozy, a warm weight reacted to her movement, circling her stomach and pulling per closer to the warm body next to her. 

A cry split the silence of the morning, piercing through Lena’s sluggish, sleep laced thoughts. 

“I’ve got it.” The bed shifted next to her, an arm unwrapped itself from around her waist and disappeared, taking the blissful warmth with it. Lena groaned in protest and felt the bed dip again and a soft touch on her forehead followed by a soft chuckle and a voice. “Go back to sleep.”

A minute later the crying stopped.

_ Wait. Crying?  _ Lena lived alone.  _ So who had been crying? And  _ who  _ had been in her bed?  _

Her thoughts began to clear slightly and she became more aware of her surroundings, the bed was soft, much softer than she was used to and these sheets were worn cotton, not her usual silk. They smelled strange too, frangipani with an underlying scent of something sugary that seemed strangely familiar but she couldn’t place her finger on why.

Lena sat up with the sudden realisation and looked around in confusion, followed very suddenly by panic when she realised where she was. Or, more specifically, where she  _ wasn’t.  _ Because  _ this was not her room.  _ Lena pushed the heels of her hands into her eyes, resting her head against the back of the bed (wood, not cushioned as it should be) and counting her breaths, hoping when she opened her eyes, this strange hallucination would end and she would be back in her bed in her apartment. 

She cracked open an eye. No such luck. She was still in the strange room, morning light peeked through the windows on either side of the bed, bathing everything in a soft glow. Lena looked around in disbelief. The room was modestly sized and painted a coral blue with white skirting boards. Two dark wooden dressers were pushed up against the wall opposite the foot of the bed. A slightly ajar door to her left led in what looked to be a bathroom and a bookshelf was pushed up on the wall next to the bathroom door. A pair of glasses lay abandoned on one of the bedside tables.  _ What the hell?  _ She was sure she’d gone home last night, positive. Martin had dropped her home, She’d embarrassingly almost fallen on her way to the door, had a small chat with the new doorman and headed up to her apartment and into bed. Could she have been drugged? Surely not, she didn't remember eating for drinking anything unusual after dinner and if it was anything else she would have almost certainly felt the effects before getting home. Besides who would drug a person and then leave them to wake up here? She glanced around the room again, it was cute and cozy, not quite the right vibe for kidnapping or anything sinister.

Her roaming eyes settled on the only other door in the room which was also open slightly, probably a courtesy of her mysterious bedmate, and she could hear voices drifting in and a slight rattle and clank of pans. Lena sighed and stood up, probably best to just face whatever the hell was happening, no use sitting in some strangers house.

She stood from the bed and for the first time realised what she was wearing. An oversized, thin grey t-shirt hung from her frame, the hem brushing the top of her bare thighs. No pants.  _ What the hell?  _ She headed over to the two sets of drawers and rummaged around for a second before locating an equally faded pair of sweatpants covered in paint stains and pulling them on. Hopefully, the owner wouldn’t mind her borrowing them because she was  _ not  _ about to leave this room in a borrowed shirt and underwear and nothing else.

With her legs fully covered, Lena pushed the bedroom door open to reveal a carpeted hallway, lined with doors, the one closest to her was open.  _ Does whoever lives here not know how to close doors?  _ Lena brushed the thought off and peeked into the room as she passed, revealing it to be a nursery. Painted in pastels and full of stuffed animals. Lena followed the sounds further down the hall and through a door on her right.

She emerged into an open plan kitchen and dining room, the far wall had been removed and there were two small steps joining the dark wooden flooring of the kitchen with the carpet of what looked like a living room, Lena could see a very large flat screen tv mounted on the wall with a sofa facing it and a few bean bags scattered about. Her observation of the space was cut short by a small child’s voice.

“Mama!” 

The voice drew Lena’s attention over to the kitchen side of the room, sitting on the grey granite countertop was a child of maybe two or three with a crown of golden curls, enthusiastically waving a batter-covered wooden spoon in Lena’s direction, a somehow familiar smile gracing her chubby cheeks, her green eyes sparkling. Next to the counter, strapped into a high chair, was a baby. This one with dark curls and blue eyes, she was sitting upright in the chair and at the sight of Lena reached her baby arms out toward the very confused woman, bouncing up and down and babbling, “Mam mam mam mam!”

Both children were covered in an alarming amount of flour, making them look like they had both been snowed on. Lena looked behind her, double-checking there was no one else there. There wasn’t. Before she could dwell on these strange children who were apparently very confused about who she was, a flour-dusted blonde head popped up from behind the counter, it was attached to a woman who was wielding a sippy cup triumphantly. 

“Got it!” Her back was to Lena as she placed the cup on the tray of the high chair, the baby completely ignoring it and continuing her bouncing and “Mam mam mam mam!” not taking her eyes off Lena. 

Lena was about to announce her presence to the woman when she turned around and Lena felt a bolt of relief shoot through her. It was Kara. A very flour-covered Kara but it was Kara all the same.  _ That explains the glasses.  _ She beamed at Lena, stepping out from behind the counter and moving towards the other woman. Lena was about to approach her friend when she stopped dead in her tracks, her brain short-circuiting. Kara was wearing an old baggy t-shirt sporting a faded picture of Winnie-The-Pooh. And no pants. The rest of Lena’s brain capacity occupied by Kara’s  _ very  _ bare legs. 

“Morning sleepyhead.” Kara was in front of her now, arms reaching out and pulling Lena close and Lena was  _ very  _ aware of Kara’s bare legs pressing up against her, and how  _ good  _ Kara’s hair smelled. Lena returned the hug, feeling her heartbeat quicken as she realised Kara’s shirt had ridden up slightly and Lena’s fingers were brushing the now exposed skin just above the waistband of her underwear. Lena tried not to think about how much skin Kara casually had on show at the moment, an effort she easily succeeded in when Kara's hands slid under her shirt, her long fingers rubbing small circles on Lenas lower back. 

“Sorry about the flour, I might have accidentally left the open bag a little too close to the troublemakers.” Kara let her go and her hands came up to cup Lena’s face.  _ Oh god, what is-  _ but before she could even finish the thought Kara’s lips were pressing softly against hers, and Lena was dying.

Realisation dawned on her.

_ It’s a dream. It has to be.  _ It was a  _ very  _ good dream. Lena sometimes kissed Kara in dreams but this was something else. This was amazing. Kara started to pull away and Lena made a small noise of protest in the back of her throat, bringing her hands up to tangle in Kara’s flour-dusted hair, pulling her back in and deepening the kiss. She was going to make the most of this dream while it lasted. Dream Kara reacted enthusiastically, a small moan encouraging her as Lena nibbled on her lower lip.

They were interrupted by an indignant yell from the counter and the bang of what Lena assumed was the wooden spoon on the granite surface.

“Jeju!” 

They broke apart, looking at the small child who now had her arms crossed over her chest, the spoon poking up comically from under her armpit. A very indignant glare was being thrown their way. “Pancakes time,  _ not  _ kissy time!” The tiny blonde glowered.

Kara chuckled, letting her forehead come to rest on Lena’s and pulling her closer so their bodies were flush against each other. “Someones eager.” Lena wasn’t sure who she was referring to. Kara smiled, pressing another small kiss to Lena’s temple and linking their hands together, pulling her over to the counter where she dropped Lena’s hand in favour of grabbing the little girl and mercilessly tickling her.

“I’ll have you know mama and I can have kissy time whenever we want, Trouble!” ‘Trouble’ squealed with delighted laughter and struggled against the affectionate attack, dropping the spoon in a futile effort to escape.

“Mam mam MAM MAM MAM!” The baby was getting louder, Lena could see her bouncing behind Kara, she’d picked up the sippy cup and was banging it along with her chanting.  _ Was it normal for kids to hit things this much? _

“Someone wants you.” Kara was now holding the toddler who was hiccuping slightly with leftover laughter, the spoon abandoned on the messy counter. Kara retrieve it and placed it into a (very messy) bowl of batter that was sitting on the counter, surrounded by spilt flour and eggshells.

“Mam!”

_ Right.  _ So apparently in this dream reality, she had children. With Kara. 

“MAM!” 

Ok. Baby.

Lena moved to stand in front of the highchair. The baby let go of the sippy cup mid bang, it bounced once on the tray and fell to the floor, rolling away.

“Niamh!” Kara scolded, bending down to retrieve the cup, the toddler hanging from her neck, laughing when Kara let go with both hands and let her dangle in the air.  _ Niamh.  _ Of course, Dream Lena had named her child after her birth mother.

“Mam!” The baby- Niamh- whimpered, her tiny hands reaching up towards Lena making a grabbing motion. Her bottom lip stuck out and her eyes large and even Lena, who had no experience with babies, knew what would happen if she wasn’t picked up soon.

_ Ok, you can do this Lena, just pick up the baby. It’s YOUR dream what could go wrong? _

She struggled with the strap for about two seconds and then, suddenly, she was holding a baby. Lena had never held a baby before. She gingerly lifted Niamh out of the plastic chair and held her at arm’s length, unsure what to do. 

“Lee? Are you alright?” The use of the nickname and the soft touch on Lena’s lower back almost made her jump and she pulled the baby closer to her, copying the way Kara was holding the toddler and letting Niamh’s arms wrap around her neck. Lena felt something tug at her heart and her stomach lurched as she got a whiff of the baby’s scent. 

“Ah,” Lena fumbled for words, “I’m fine.” This dream was extremely realistic, complete with maternal instincts and everything. Niamh nuzzled into her neck and she heard a faint murmur of “  _ Mam  _ .” Tiny hands grasping at Lena’s shirt. Her heart swelled and Lena was suddenly overcome with emotion.

“Lee, you’re crying.” Kara carefully untangled the toddler from around her neck and placed her on the ground before stepping into Lena’s personal space. Lena felt soft hands wiping her tears. 

“Hey, what is it?” She asked softly, concern evident in her voice.

“It’s just- feels so  _ real.”  _ Lena sniffled, leaning into the touch. She felt- she felt so many things. Love, for the tiny child in her arms, happiness, looking at the dream version of her best friend who  _ loved her  _ and sadness, because none of this was real and Lena would wake up soon. And it would all be over. She’d be right back into her life where Kara was her friend and would never look at her like she was now.

“What do you mean?” Kara stroked her face gently and Lena felt small hands tugging at her pants leg. She looked down into the very concerned face of a small blonde toddler.

“Mama? Don’t cry, mama.” Lena’s heart swelled even more at the tiny girl who was patting her knee gently, her expression a tiny copy Kara’s. 

“Hey, Lulu, why don’t we take mama to the couch and we can all have a big cuddle?” Kara suggested and the little girl- Lulu, apparently- nodded seriously and reached up to take hold of the pocket of the pants Lena was wearing tugging her gently down the two steps that lead to the living room, where she had to let go in order to climb down, placing both hands on the floor and very carefully crawling down backwards. It made Lena chuckle through her tears. 

“Do you want me to…?” Kara motioned towards Niamh, who was contentedly resting her head on Lena's chest now, seemingly happy to listen to her heartbeat, her wide eyes open and alert.

Lena shook her head. “I’ve got her.” Kara nodded and put her arm comfortingly around Lena’s waist, at the same time she felt Lulu’s tiny hand grasp onto the pocket again, tugging her over to the couch.

Kara sat down, pulling Lena with her and wrapping her arms around the other woman, a second later Lulu clambered up onto the couch next to them and climbed into Lena’s lap, reaching up to gently pat her face. “Shhh, shh, mama shh.” 

They sat like that for a while, Lena wrapped up in Kara’s arms with one child resting on her chest and the other in her lap. Kara was gently massaging Lena’s scalp, the fingers of her right hand buried in Lena’s hair. Lena let herself be comforted, leaning into the contact. A few minutes later her breathing had slowed and the tears had stopped, Kara spoke.

“Lulu, why don’t we put Niamhy in the walker and you two can play for a little bit while me and mama talk?”

The toddler looked up at Kara, worry etched into her tiny face, “Pancakes?”

“As soon as I talk to mama we can finish making pancakes,” Kara promised.

Lulu looked up at the adults and patted Lena’s cheek again. “Mama's feeing ok?” she asked her. God, it was  _ so strange  _ to be addressed like that but Lena nodded and sat up anyway. Kara untangled her hand from her hair and followed suit. Lena missed the contact immediately. 

The blonde stood and gently took Niamh from Lena’s arms, walking to the corner of the room where a play area was set up, complete with a tiny walker on wheels for the baby to ‘stand’ in with an attached board of almost homemade looking buttons and bells. The toddler followed and sat on the mat. She immediately reached for a small box of wooden blocks. As soon as Niamh was buckled into the walker she began hitting the board, her tiny mouth making an almost shocked ‘o’ shape, fascinated by the sounds coming from the assortment of objects fixed in front of her.  _ These kids sure do like to hit things. _

Kara sat in front of her this time, one leg tucked up underneath her and the other dangling over the side of the couch. She took Lena’s hands in hers.

“What’s going on?” She was rubbing comforting circles on the back of Lena’s hands with the pad of her thumbs. “The last time I saw you cry like that was-”

Kara paused the circles she had been making and looked at Lena curiously. “Lena… you’re not-? Are you pregnant?”

Lena blanched.  _ What?  _ “What? No! How would I even-?” 

Kara frowned, “Uh, the same way we made those two?” She jerked her head in the direction of the two children. “Well, the way  _ you  _ made those two, my stem cell and bioengineering is a bit rusty, not to mention how we would’ve explained Supergirl either flying around pregnant or disappearing for 9 months.” 

This was a lot of information for Lena to take in all at once. It sounded like something she would do, putting in the work to be able to have biological children. She had even thought about it in the past when she had started to let herself consider the fact that she was never going to end up with a man. The most surprising aspect was Kara’s insinuation that  _ she,  _ Lena _ ,  _ had been the one to get pregnant and give birth- Lena’s train of thought came to a screeching halt as something else Kara said caught up with her.

“You’re Supergirl.” Lena had guessed as much earlier in their friendship, currently, she was just waiting for Kara to decide she was ready to share her secret. Lena reached up and gently touched Dream Kara’s temple, where her glasses usually sat.

Kara rolled her eyes, “Haha, very funny. You’d think that after five years you’d have stopped mocking my disguise.”

Lena raised an eyebrow, “I’d hardly call a pair of glasses and a ponytail a disguise.” It was true, though that wasn’t the only reason that had led Lena to the conclusion that her best friend was moonlighting as a superhero.

Kara let go of her hands and crossed her arms over her chest with the most adorable pout. “It works for Superman!” 

“Ah, so Superman has a ponytail now?” Lena teased

“Lena!” Kara swatted at her, trying to hide the grin appearing on her face. 

“Jeju! Pancakes?” Lulu appeared at the couch, her green eyes -Lena’s eyes, she realised suddenly- sparkling with hope, tiny hands resting on the edge of the couch cushions, pushed up on her toes to gain as much height as possible.

“We’d better get these two fed.” Kara stood and offered a hand to help Lena up. She paused as they stood together, her expression turning serious. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” Lena reassured her, “I guess I was just tired.” No use telling a dream they’re not real, Lena reasoned, besides, she may as well enjoy herself while she could.

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” Kara questioned, “We can bring you breakfast in bed?” 

Lena shook her head, “Why don’t you get started on the pancakes and I’ll get the bab- Niamh?” She corrected herself at the last second and Kara nodded, pressing a light kiss to her cheek before grabbing Lulu’s outstretched hands and swinging her up into her arms. Lena stood for a second, the tips of her fingers ghosting over the place Kara’s lips had been. It felt extremely real for just a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your kind comments on the last chapter! Keep it up! Let me know if there are any spelling mistakes here or if theres anything you want to see in future chapters! I have a plan for this story but always I'm open to suggestions too!
> 
> Thanks to Fee, Nat and Munka for your support and kind of betaing :)


	3. The Fuck Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena tries to wake up and also is real gay and useless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK so first of all, I re-watched the Family Man and its good but real sad. Why is it like that? Also, this chapter started small and then Kara got naked so...whoops. I so I upped the rating.
> 
> ALSO this isn't gonna be hundreds of chapters long! maybe like maybe 8 chapters total? I might stretch it to 10 but you will have to wait and see.

Lena was confused, this 'dream' had been good at first but now it had dragged on into mid-morning and she had yet to wake up. On top of that, she was beginning to question the linear timeline she was experiencing, dreams didn't usually have such consistent timelines, especially Lena's. 

They were sitting at the oak dining table off to the side of the kitchen area, empty plates of pancake crumbs and sticky syrup residue littering the bare surface and sipping on post-breakfast drinks, each child held a sippy cup of orange juice while Lena and Kara both had matching mugs of coffee with "Mr." printed in curling gold script, a gag gift from a friend, Lena guessed, probably Winn or Alex. Kara's voice cut off her musing over the origin of their mugs.

"So I was thinking maybe when these two go down for their afternoon nap we could maybe... you know, _ not _nap." The look Kara gave her over her coffee caused Lena to take a much larger gulp of the hot drink than she had originally planned. She blushed fiercely and spluttered over her coffee, resulting in a very sultry look from Kara which did things to Lena that were most definitely not appropriate to explore in the company of children. 

She wouldn't be able to survive this much longer, _ time to test my theory then, before- _she cut off the thought quickly and casually sat back in her seat.

Lena let her hands fall into her lap, so they were hidden from view by the dark wood of the table, she squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the soft skin on the inside of her elbow. 

Hard. 

Lena cautiously cracked open an eye and was met with the same scene as before; except now Kara had put her mug down and was laughing as she struggled to wipe the remnants of chocolate chip pancakes from Lulu's face, the toddler valiantly struggling against the assault of the damp cloth her mother was holding. 

Lena tried again, this time pinching hard enough to draw a tiny gasp of pain. Kara looked up from her task, eyebrows furrowing in concern, the familiar crease that Lena knew so well appearing between her eyebrows. "Lena? Are you ok?" 

Lena shook her head and stood from the table, "I'm fine, I just- I'm going to take a shower."

Kara beamed up at her from her seat "No problem, I can wrangle these two." She gestured to the children, who now each had a layer of syrup added to their previous flour coating. "I think maybe you two might need a bath!" She smiled down at Lulu, whose eyes widened in horror, her tiny golden curls bobbing as she shook her head.

"Jeju, _ no! _" the toddler protested, but Kara swooped down swiftly scooping the toddler up in her arms before she could wriggle down from her booster seat and make a run for it.

"Jeju, _ yes!" _Kara replied, laughing as she tucked Lulu under her arm like a football and expertly beginning to unbuckle Niamh's high chair strap with her free hand.

Kara's voice followed Lena down the hall, "You're doing the dishes though- _ Lulu! _Not in Jeju's hair! I thought you ate all your pancakes where did that even come from?"

"NO BAF!"

Lena stepped into the ensuite, closing the door to muffle the growing argument over bath time. Ignoring the hot tap all together she left the cold water running as she undressed, praying the freezing liquid would shock her system enough to make her brain wake her. 

As she pulled off the old shirt she had been wearing all morning Lena caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror over the sink. A network of thin scars ran along her belly and hips. _ Stretch marks. _ She realised. She didn’t let herself look too closely at anything else, quickly stepping into the stream of cold water.

It definitely shocked her body, but she opened her eyes to the same tiled walls she had closed them to. Lena sighed in defeat and turned the other tap, waiting for the warm water to hit her bare skin. She was here now she may as well take a few minutes to sort out her thoughts.

The shower was littered with all kinds of bottles, Lena didn't recognise any of her usual brands amongst the chaos but, eventually, she found a shampoo and conditioner that matched and had enough liquid in them for her to wash her hair. As she rubbed the shampoo into her scalp she realised she recognised the scent. _ Raspberries. _ This must be Kara's shampoo. She paused for a second before shrugging and continued to work it through her hair.

Lena stepped out of the shower a few minutes later, she pulled a towel from the rack on the wall and wrapped it around her body, making a point to angle herself so she couldn't see the mirror. 

_ OK, new plan: nap. _ Maybe if she went to sleep in her dream she would wake up in reality? Lena stepped into the bedroom just as Kara's voice called down the hall.

"Lee? Can you bring me some clothes? I got the kids stuff but forgot mine."

"Uh, sure, one minute!" Lena called back turning towards the dressers. She opened a drawer at random and inspected the contents; a series of cute, simple button-up shirts. _ Kara's side then. _ She pulled one out at random and threw it on the bed. Her hands moved to the next drawer and she pulled it open, her face instantly heated up as she realised what she was looking at. The drawer was divided into two sections, bras and underwear. Lena shut the drawer quickly and moved down, pausing as she realised Kara might expect her to bring underwear. _ Has she showered too or is she just wet from bathing the children? _Lena quickly opened up the drawer and pulled out a pair of underwear and bra, throwing them beside the button up. She found a pair of jeans in a bottom drawer and moved on to the other set of drawers, pulling out a shirt and some sweat pants at random and grabbing a pair of underwear from the top drawer, not even looking at the bras neatly lined up on the opposite side. 

She quickly pulled on the clothes she had found for herself, hung up the towel on the back of the door and grabbed Kara's clothes. Making sure the underwear and bra were carefully sandwiched between the other clothes. 

As she stepped out into the hallway she realised she didn't know exactly where Kara was.

"Kara?" Lena called tentatively.

"Bathroom!" Came the reply.

Lena blinked, she had no idea where the bathroom was, she stood for a second and then decided to follow the direction Kara's voice had come from, stopping halfway up the hall when she heard laughter behind one of the doors. She hovered awkwardly outside for a second, unsure what to do.

"Lena?" Kara's voice came from inside, "Can you hurry? I could use a hand in here!" 

Lena pushed the door open. The bathroom showed clear signs of belonging to the children, toys littered almost every available surface, there was a wicker laundry basket pushed into a corner and a ladder and seat combo sitting beside the closed toilet. Lulu was on the floor in front of a shower and bath combo, wrapped in a fluffy red towel, holding a yellow duck. Her blonde curls were darkened by water and plastered to her head, she smiled up at Lena as she entered. Kara was standing next to the toddler, Niamh wrapped in a towel in her usual perch on Kara's hip. 

Lena stopped dead in her tracks. Kara's _ naked _hip. Because Kara was completely and utterly naked. And she didn't seem to mind at all that Lena was openly staring at her from the doorway, in fact, she didn't even seem to notice. 

"Thanks, babe, can you dry her off?" Kara took her clothes from Lena and deposited Niamh into her arms. Lena tried to concentrate on drying the baby off and not on the naked body of her best friend that was less than an arm's length away.

Kara grabbed a towel from the back of the door and she had to reach around Lena to do so, her wet breast pressing into Lenas uncovered arm just underneath the sleeve of her shirt. Lena's brain stopped working altogether and she just stood there dumbly staring as Kara moved away and began to quickly dry herself off. 

She grinned at Lena cheekily, "Like what you see?"

Lena blushed and looked down at Niamh, who stared up at her with huge blue eyes and she heard Kara chuckle.

"Lena, you're allowed to look at me, we're married remember?" 

_ Right. Married. To Kara. _ Lena looked up again. _ If this is all a dream anyway... _ Kara had apparently finished drying off and was in the process of putting on her underwear, currently she was shimmying the blue bra Lena had randomly selected around to her front. Lena felt a strange mixture of relief and disappointment as Kara's boobs were obscured from view.

Kara winked at her, "Don't worry, you can take it off later."

Lena tried really hard not to think about doing exactly that as she concentrated on drying Niamh's hair with a corner of the towel the baby was wrapped in. When she looked up again Kara was fully dressed. Kara thankfully took over for the most part when it came to dressing the kids, all Lena really did was hand her pieces of clothing and hold whichever child was not currently being wrestled into clothes. 

"Lena, are you sure you're ok?" 

They were sitting back on the living room couch, the kids back in the play corner, Lulu was 'reading' a book to Niamh which consisted of her mostly pointing at the pictures and making it up as she went along.

Kara was looking at her with concern again. "You've been acting weird all morning."

It was the out Lena had been looking for, "I might take up that offer of a nap, after all, maybe I'll feel better?"

Kara had nodded and kissed her temple, "Call me if you need anything? Do you want me to call Alex? She could come check you out, make sure it's not serious?"

Lena shook her head, "I just need rest, I'll be alright." Hopefully, she would go to sleep in this reality and wake up in her own bed, in her own apartment where things actually made sense.

Lena stood and left the room, heading back to the strange bed and, hopefully, reality.

It took her a while to sleep, especially with images of Kara standing in front of her completely naked, the feeling of her wet body pressed up against Lena's arm, flashing through her mind constantly. Finally, she drifted off, waking up an hour later. That was when the panic officially set in. She could hear the faint notes of _ Let It Go _ floating through the bedroom door. The wrong door, in the wrong house, with the wrong _ life. _Because that was apparent now, this wasn't a dream, but what could it be? 

“Kara?” She sat up in the bed, pulling her knees to her chest, “Can you come in here for a minute?”

“Hang on!” Kara’s reply came floating through the door and a few seconds later Kara followed, sitting down on the bed opposite Lena with a look of concern. “Hey, are you ok? Are you feeling better, should I call Alex?” Kara brought a warm hand up to feel Lena’s forehead. “You don’t feel warm.”

“No, I’m not sick.” _ Probably? _Maybe she was, maybe this was some kind of hallucination.

Kara’s hand moved from her head and threaded her fingers through Lena's. The contact grounded her and she concentrated on the familiar feeling of Kara's hand in hers. She looked up into her friend's face, locking eyes.

“Kara I need you to listen to me, this is important.” Lena took Kara’s other hand and leant forward slightly, trying to push down the panic rising in her throat.

“Lena you're scaring me.”

Lena could almost feel the concern rolling off her friend in waves.

“Kara-” Lena took a deep breath, “Kara, I’m not your wife.” Kara sat back a little on the bed, confusion flashing through her concerned expression.

“Um, I think our marriage certificate would disagree, not to mention these.” Kara lifted their hands and for the first time, Lena noticed the wedding ring on her left hand. She hadn’t noticed it before, silver with a green stone, simple and beautiful at the same time. It threw her for a loop for a second and she blinked down at it before shaking her head.

“It’s not- it's not _ mine _ , none of this is mine!” Her voice began to rise with the panic that was wrapping an iron fist around her heart, “These clothes aren’t mine, this house isn’t mine, the kids- my _ body _!” She let go of Kara’s hands, dropping them on the bedcovers. and took hold of the bottom of the shirt she was wearing, yanking it up to reveal the stretch marks wired across her hips and stomach.

“Lena-” Kara started but she was cut off.

“_ I _ don’t _ have _ stretch marks, Kara! This is all wrong! It’s not _ me _ !” Now that she had started it was hard to stop, tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. She took a deep breath, blinked rapidly, and pushed them down. Kara’s face appeared in front of her, smiling- _ why was she smiling?- _ and she lifted a hand to cup Lena’s face. Lena stiffened slightly, but if the blonde noticed, she didn’t react.

“Lena, it’s ok!” Her thumb was stroking Lena’s face gently, “Sure, your body’s not the same as it was four years ago but pregnancy does that!” 

Kara leaned down and gently pressed a kiss to Lena’s still exposed hip, making her breath catch in her throat and she jumped a little, a jolt of fear and heat shooting through her. 

“You’re more beautiful now than you have ever been.” Kara’s face was suddenly extremely close to hers, invading her personal space and making Lena’s heart go crazy, so many different emotions were going off inside her at once, she couldn’t concentrate. “You made two amazing children who are as proud to call you mama as I am to call you my wife. Your body can't stay the same as it was but that doesn't matter! You are _ stunning. _ I love you so much, Lena, and I love more every day.” Kara pressed a kiss to Lena’s jaw, the contact made Lena jump suddenly and push her away. She didn’t miss the look of hurt and confusion that flashed across Kara’s face but it was nothing compared to what Lena was feeling at having everything she’d ever wanted dangling right in front of her. _ It’s not real. _ Lena looked down.

“No, Kara. You don’t.” 

Kara’s face fell and Lena saw pain bloom across the blonde’s usually sunny features, quickly followed by anger. She withdrew her hands quickly, standing from the bed and clenching them into fists.

“I’m taking the kids to visit Eliza.” She said, a sliver of steel creeping into her voice. “Take the day, go for a run. _ Do something _. I don't know what's going on with you today but you need to pull it together and sort it out, Lena and you better have one hell of an explanation ready tonight because this isn’t you.” 

Kara slammed the bedroom door behind, leaving Lena on the bed.

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you!” Lena groaned and flopped back onto the bed, guilt creeping into her heart as she started to calm down. She’d never seen Kara look like that before and, even if it wasn’t the _ real _ Kara, she hated the fact that she had been the one to make her look that way. 

Lena heard a car start up somewhere outside and closed her eyes, pushing the heels of her hands into them.

“Fuck.” What the hell was she going to do?

  
  
  


Eventually, she decided to start by taking Kara’s advice and searched the dresser on ‘her’ side of the bed for some workout clothes. She frowned as she rummaged through piles of shirts and pants, actually seeing them this time, Lena, the real one, had very expensive taste when it came to clothes. Designer brands, tailor-made, silk, cashmere, hell, the overall cost of her wardrobe could feed National City for at least a month. Apparently, the Lena who lived here had different ideas. 

“What is wrong with this place?” Lena groaned as she inspected a particularly worn-out shirt, letting it fall back down she closed the drawer on the affronting garment.

Another minute of searching yielded a black tank top and matching leggings. She pulled a black sports bra out of the top drawer, glancing at the size and frowning. That couldn’t be right. She pulled out a regular bra and checked it too, followed by a third and then a fourth, they were all the same size. The _ wrong _size.

Curious, she pulled on the first one. To her surprise, it fit perfectly. Another side effect of the pregnancies this body had been through. Lena shuddered and pushed the thought out of her mind. 

The house was empty when she emerged from the bedroom, pulling her hair out of her face and securing it with a hair tie she had found in a bathroom drawer. She searched the shoe rack by the door and pulled on a battered-looking pair of running shoes before heading out into the front yard.

Earlier Lena had found a phone on the bedside table, it had opened to her fingerprint and she assumed Kara had taken her own with her. She had been slightly disappointed to discover that it was obviously not the latest version, but, upon a small inspection, Lena discovered it had been expertly upgraded and if she knew anything about her own work (which she did), she had been the one to upgrade it.

Sighing, she pressed her finger to the scanner and watched as the screen lit up with a picture, Lena and Kara squeezed into a hospital bed not quite big enough for the number of people it currently contained. Kara sat beaming down at a very newborn looking Niamh in her arms and Lena was staring at her like she couldn’t quite believe what was happening, exhaustion laced her features and her hair was falling out of a very messy bun. A younger Lulu was pressed between the couple, laughing, presumably at the person taking the photo. 

Lena’s heart clenched and she quickly tapped the screen and pulled up the app she wanted, a digital map appeared on the screen, with a small blue dot just underneath a pin labelled ‘Home’. At least she would be able to find her way back, she mused, zooming out. There was a park a few streets away, Lena quickly examined the path she would take before slipping the phone back into the pocket of her leggings.

A teenager emerged from the house across the street, a pair of keys dangling from his fingers and a very pregnant looking golden retriever happily waddling after him. He waved at Lena as he walked down the driveway towards a small blue car.

“Morning Mrs Danver- I mean- Lena!” 

“Uh, good morning.” She replied a little too late, _ Mrs Danvers. She’d taken Kara’s name? _

“You ok?” The boy called, unlocking the car and opening the boot, the retriever put both her paws up onto it and looked at him expectantly.

“All good!” Lena tried to recover, “How’s your… dog?” She gestured weakly towards the animal, who woofed impatiently, tail wagging as if she knew she was being discussed. The boy leant down and carefully lifted her into the car, her back legs scrambling wildly for a second until she found purchase on the floor of the boot, as soon as all feet were securely inside the car she turned and lay down with a small huff.

“Luna’s fine, she’s got her last checkup today! The pups will be here any day now but you probably know that, Mrs- Kara,” he corrected himself, blushing slightly, “She keeps asking.”

Lena nodded knowingly, she wasn’t surprised by that, if it weren't for Kara’s very strict landlord she’d be drowning in dogs by now. 

“Well, we’ve gotta go, don’t want to miss the appointment!” The boy closed the boot on the dog, heading around to the driver’s side door and waving. “Bye!”

Lena waved back and waited for the car to pull out of the drive and start heading down the street before turning the other way and heading towards the park. 

Two other people greeted her as she headed down the street, an older man out watering his garden and the little redheaded girl chasing the spray of water coming from the hose.

“Hi, Lena!” She waved enthusiastically as the brunette jogged past, slowing slightly to return the wave.

“Mrs Danvers.” The man smiled and nodded at her before sneakily splashing the girl’s back with the hose and turning away as if nothing had happened. The girl squealed and whirled around.

“Grandpa!” 

He played shocked, “Millie! You're all wet, how did that happen?” 

“_ You _sprayed me!” She giggled, pointing an accusing finger at her grandfather.

“I would never do such a thing!” He winked conspiratorially at Lena, who had paused to watch the interaction. The girl bent down and yanked hard on the hose, taking him by surprise and pulling it from the old man’s grip, reeling it in across the grass towards her, the end flipping about, sending arcs of water in all directions. 

“Oop! Gotta go!” The man waved at Lena before disappearing around the side of the house, quickly followed by his water wielding grandchild.

_ Mrs Danvers. _ She tried to ignore the flip her stomach did at hearing the name again and as she continued down the road Lena could have sworn she heard a, “I’m going to get you for that!” followed by a squeal.

The park was nice, large trees lined the edges of the path she was on and she could see a pond in the middle, the path seeming to circle it. Judging by the crunch of leaves under her feet and the colour of the foliage, it was early autumn. An older man in a green jumpsuit and a matching hat was raking leaves by the path, he looked up and waved as she approached.

“Miss Luthor!” 

Lena almost fell, stumbling in surprise and coming to a stop in front of him. He was leaning on his rake now, eyes twinkling out at her from under his cap, a familiar white name tag pinned to his chest.

_Bill_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think! Before I give you some explanations, what are your theories? Tell me what you think is really going on! I wanna know! Also what did you like? Dislike? TELL ME!!!!


	4. Cinderella

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena kind of gets an explanation and meets a (new?) friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I have not watched past season 2 so I didn't even get up to where Sam is introduced, she is probably super OOC but I have no way of knowing because I refuse to watch Supergirl unless they make supercorp canon, I MAY also be persuaded if Lena officially comes out as a lesbian. But until then you'll have to deal with me picking up snippets from Tumblr and nothing else, sorry not sorry. 
> 
> That aside I hope you like it!

“Why is it that you always fall when I’m around?” Bill smiled kindly at her, the same twinkle in his eye Lena had noticed before. 

“You know me?” Lena was immediately on guard, analysing the situation carefully.  _ He’d called her Luthor.  _

“Why, you haven’t forgotten me already have you, Miss Luthor?” Bill chuckled, brushing some dust from his uniform, “After all, we did only speak just last night.”

Lena moved quickly, grasping the collar of his shirt and angrily yanking it up, Bill’s rake clattered to the path. 

“What the hell is going on?” She snarled, “ _ Tell me! _ ”

Bill was surprisingly unruffled, “Calm down Miss Luthor-”

“I  _ will not calm down!”  _ Lena yelled, her heartbeat thumped loudly in her ears, “ What have you done to me? Did Lex send you? CADMUS?”

“Miss Luthor, I can assure you I'm not working for your brother or anyone else who might want to hurt you and I’d be happily inclined to provide you with any information you require so long as you release me.” 

Lena hesitated, an old man wasn’t Lex’s usual style and aside from that, there was something about the way Bill was looking at her, a softness in his expression. If CADMUS were behind this surely there would be more physical pain involved? This whole situation, her being married to Kara, cute house in the suburbs, it wasn’t their usual style.

“Sorry,” Lena released him and Bill carefully smoothed out the wrinkles her hand had left on the collar of his jumpsuit and retrieved his rake from the ground. “As you can see, this whole thing has thrown me for a loop.”

“It’s completely understandable, Miss Luthor,” Bill nodded sympathetically, “Perhaps we can sit down?” he gestured down the leaf-covered slope towards the pond, where an old wooden bench stood looking out over the still water.

Lena followed him down the hill and sat down, keeping a wary eye on the old man, who lent his rake up against a nearby tree before occupying the other side of the bench.

“What is going on?” Lena used the voice she normally reserved for the more difficult of businessmen, even if the man wasn’t working for CADMUS (though you could never be too careful when it came to them) she was not the kind of person to trust blindly, “Is this some kind of hallucination? Have I been drugged?”

Bill chuckled again and shook his head, “Miss Luthor, I can assure you that you are physically fine. You have been afforded something very unique and rare. This kind of… experience doesn’t happen often.”

“What the hell does that mean? You can’t just be all cryptic and not actually explain anything!” Lena threw her hands up in exasperation, her perfect CEO mask cracking slightly. “This whole _thing_, is it real? Is it some kind of hallucination?”

“Miss Luthor, you have reached a very significant moment in your life, a fork in the road, one might say. You have some very important decisions to make, decisions that will determine the path your future will take- Have you seen Cinderella?”

“I-” Lena blinked at the abrupt subject change, “The Disney movie?” 

This conversation was getting stranger by the second. Not that it mattered, but she  _ had  _ seen Cinderella, Kara had insisted on a Disney marathon a few weeks ago and forced Lena to watch ‘all the classics’ as she had put it after she had found out Lena had never seen any before. To say that her best friend had been appalled at that particular revelation of Lena’s childhood would be an understatement.

“Yes I have but I fail to see how that-” Bill waved a hand to silence her and continued talking.

“When the Fairy Godmother appears and makes Cinderella’s dress and carriage and shoes etcetera, the same argument could be made: ‘Are they real?’ But does that really matter? Whether they were real or not, they made a  _ very  _ real and significant impact on Cinderella’s life.” He gestured out over the pond, waving his arms slightly haphazardly at the park around them, “Miss Luthor,  _ this  _ is your Cinderella moment.”

Lena was stumped. “I still don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to,” he shook his head dismissively at her, “What you need to know right now is that no matter what you choose to believe, for every other human here this  _ is  _ their reality. It is one hundred percent real to them, always has been and always will be. The rest you need to figure out on your own.”

Kara’s hurt expression flashed across the back of her eyelids and Lena slumped back into the wooden bench, guilt creeping into her heart.  _ I really hurt her. _

Bill stood, leaning heavily on the iron arm of the bench until he was almost fully upright, “These old bones aren’t what they used to be,” he muttered as he walked back to the tree and retrieved his rake, turning to look back at Lena. 

“One last piece of advice, Miss Luthor; enjoy this while you can. Not many people get this kind of opportunity.” He turned and began walking up the hill behind the bench, heading back towards the path. Lena could hear his footsteps making light crunching sounds as he moved through the fallen leaves.

“Bill! Wait, how do I-” Lena leapt up and whirled around, scanning the park behind her for the older man but he was gone, the small pile of leaves he’d left on the path slowly beginning to scatter in the breeze. Of course. Lena sat back down on the bench, two swans were paddling across the pond together, slowly making their way towards the far bank. She watched them as she considered the conversation she’d just had.

She had really hurt Kara. Lena stood and made her way back to the path, turning and heading back the way she’d come. She needed to fix this. But how?

_ I can do this.  _ Lena tried to convince herself as she ran back towards the road.  _ I can assimilate into this life.  _

_ “Enjoy it while you can.”  _ Bill had said. That implied that she would eventually return to her normal life, right? Cinderella’s dress had turned back into rags at midnight. Besides, didn’t she deserve this? After all, she’d been through, all the awful things Lena had to endure in her life, didn’t she deserve to be happy, at least for a little while? Even if it might not be real, she could play along.  _ Enjoy it.  _ She could do that. 

True, Lena had never thought of herself as the type to have a family, but it couldn’t be that hard. She ran a billion dollar company daily and developed advanced technology  _ for fun.  _ How hard could changing a diaper or two be?

Lena thought of this morning, of Lulu covered in syrup, of Niamh's tiny hands hanging onto her shirt, her head resting on Lena’s shoulder, of Kara. Kara’s smile, Kara’s arm wrapped around her in bed, Kara kissing her…

Lena pushed the front door open and pulled off her running shoes, discarding them on the shoe rack and heading down the hall to the master bedroom. She could feel the post workout stickiness on her skin.  _ Shower first,  _ she thought, then she could figure out how to apologise to Kara.

As she passed the kitchen door a noise caught her attention. It was coming from inside, a clattering of dishes and the unmistakable sounds of a person moving around, the hiss of a boiling kettle.

_ Shit. _ It hit Lena that she hadn’t locked the door when she left. In hindsight it probably hadn’t been the best idea, Lena winced, silently cursing herself for her thoughtlessness. 

Lena quietly stepped backward until she was by the front door again, pulling an umbrella she had noticed earlier from the stand by the door before returning to her spot outside the kitchen door. She took a deep breath and threw it open, holding the closed umbrella up in front of her. “I’m armed!” She warned the intruder, waving the umbrella in front of herself in what she hoped would come off as a threatening gesture.

A tall dark-haired woman was standing behind the kitchen counter holding a mug. She almost dropped it as Lena burst into the room. Her eyes widened in surprise and she yelped, barley catching the mug as it slipped from her grip and spilling coffee over her hand in the process.

“Fuck! Lena! Chill out it’s me! It’s Sam!” The woman put the mug down on the counter and shoved her hand in the sink behind her, turning the tap with a practised motion, and sighed in relief as the cool water ran over her reddening skin.

Lena stopped in her tracks, lowering the umbrella slightly. 

“Sam?” she didn’t know anyone called Sam. The woman half turned around, leaving her hand under the tap and rolled her eyes at Lena. 

“Yes,  _ Sam _ , your best friend? Godmother of your children?” She gave a sarcastic wave with her free hand, “Hello?”

“Right, Sam, hi.” The umbrella was fully lowered as Lena realised that she probably was supposed to know this woman.

“You made me spill my coffee! Seriously Lena!” The woman- Sam- exasperatedly shook her head at Lena before she turned back to inspect the damage. She switched off the tap and experimentally flexed her hand, apparently satisfied, she reached into the sink for a cloth and turned back to the counter to wipe up the spilled liquid.

“Uh, sorry?” Lena started, “To be fair you  _ did  _ sneak into my house though.”

“ _ You _ left the door unlocked!” Sam accused, dropping the coffee-soaked towel in the sink. “I mean, I know its a safe neighbourhood but that’s pretty ballsy.” She pulled a tea towel from a drawer and wiped her hands, then raised an eyebrow at Lena, who was still standing in the doorway, umbrella dangling from her fingers. “What were you going to do with that anyway? Poke my eye out?” 

“It was this or a shoe.” Lena supplied lamely, she had no idea how she was supposed to act in a situation like this.

“Oh thank god then, I don’t think I’d have survived one of your shoes! The smell would have knocked me out cold!” Sam laughed and turned to rinse her mug and fill up the kettle.

Lena frowned slightly, something in the way Sam said that reminded her of the light teasing she occasionally witnessed between Kara and her sister. It was something Lena enjoyed observing, but she was apparently at a complete loss when experiencing it first hand. Luckily she was saved from answering by Sam.

“Look, Lena,” Sam turned to face her, gesturing for Lena to sit, ”I’m not  _ just  _ here to steal your coffee.” 

The brunette leant over the counter and Lena moved towards her, she tried to act casual as she pulled out one of the bar stools, leaving the umbrella propped up by the door. Sam turned and retrieved a second mug from a cupboard, placing it on the counter next to her own.

“Eliza called about twenty minutes ago, she said Kara turned up with the kids for a surprise visit without you and then refused to talk about why you hadn’t gone with them.”

Lena hadn’t met Kara’s foster mother yet but she knew enough about her to know that anyone who hurt her daughters was in big trouble. She winced at the thought, guilt over this morning resurfacing quickly.

Apparently, Sam knew her quite well because she reached a hand across the counter to squeeze Lena’s shoulder. “She’s just worried. About  _ both  _ of you.” She eyed Lena knowingly, “She wanted me to check if you were ok, she thought you could use a friend.”

Lena wasn’t used to this- this- having a friend other than Kara thing. The closest thing she had to that was Jess and, although Lena knew her assistant cared about her, it wasn’t quite the same, she was unsure how to act around this strange woman who knew her so well. 

The kettle dinged and Sam turned to retrieve it, pulling a clear container of tea bags down from the cupboard and a carton of milk from the fridge before turning back to the counter. 

Kara’s hurt expression flashed through her memory again.  _ Go on Lena, assimilate.  _

“I fucked up.” She admitted, watching as Sam expertly assembled Lena a mug of tea before sliding it over the counter and starting on replacing her coffee. Lena wrapped her hands around the mug and waited for the tea to brew, she breathed in the familiar scent of her favourite brand, relieved that at least  _ some  _ things were the same. 

Sam, a now full mug of coffee in her hand, settled down on the stool next to Lena. 

“Alright, I’m ready, tell Aunty Sam all about it.” She patted Lena’s knee and took a sip of her coffee. Lena followed suit and was pleasantly surprised, Sam had brewed her tea exactly how she liked it, strong with lots of milk. 

“Don’t be shy,” Sam urged, “I’m here to help.”

Lena stared into her tea, “I told her she didn’t love me.” 

Sam’s head whipped up and she stared at Lena in disbelief. “You  _ what _ ?”

Lena dropped her head into her hands, abandoning her mug as she covered her face in shame. “I know.”

“Why?” Sam’s voice was strangely comforting, concerned but non-judgemental.

_ Because she doesn't? Because the real Kara is straight and in love with James? _

“I don’t know! It was-”  _ Completely justified considering my current situation?  _ “-crazy! I’ve never seen her so upset before.” Kara’s face flashed through her mind for the millionth time and sent a pang of pain and guilt through her chest, Lena peeked out at the other woman through her fingertips, “Help me.” 

Sam put her mug down, “You're right, you really fucked up.” she shook her head at Lena, “I’ll help you, but you need to tell me something first.”

Lena lifted her head, looking up at Sam who leaned forward, regarding Lena with a very serious expression, “Are you and Kara having problems?”

“No!” Lena shook her head, “This morning- I guess I had a kind of existential crisis?”  _ Technically true.  _ “I didn’t mean to hurt her like that, it kind of just... came out.”

Sam half nodded, sat back up and took another sip of her coffee, “It looks like you need to orchestrate the apology of all apologies then.” 

“How? What do I do?”

“I don’t know, I’m not the one who’s married to Kara.” Sam tapped her on the nose to emphasize her point, “What do you usually do when you fuck up?”

“I don’t.”

“You don’t apologise?”

“I don’t usually fuck up!” This was true, Kara and Lena rarely fought, the closest they would come to it usually would be when they disputed over whether or not kale counted as real food. 

“OK, calm down, there’s a first time for everything, even if it is three years into your marriage,” Sam grumbled.

Lena let her whole head drop to the table, covering it with her arms in despair. She felt Sam as patted her gently on the back and then heard the stool scrape backwards and the other woman’s voice moving back around to the other side of the counter.

“I’m going to make us lunch while you shower- because you smell- and then we can brainstorm.” 

Lena looked up to see Sam pulling ingredients out of the fridge, she watched the new woman move around the kitchen as if she’d done it a thousand times before. It struck Lena that she probably had if they were as good friends as Sam had implied -  _ best friends-  _ apparently. 

Lena sighed quietly to herself, quickly finishing off the last of her tea before scraping back her own stool and heading for the shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was really cool reading all your theories! As always, thanks for your support and I'm glad you are (hopefully still) enjoying the story! Please keep telling me what you think, was there a particular bit you liked/didn't like? How can I make this better? I don't have a beta for this and there are some grammar rules I missed out on during my education so any advice is appreciated! Y'all are great!!
> 
> (If I'm being honest I'm not SUPER happy with this chapter, mostly because it was hard to write Lena in character with what she is going through here but I did my best ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. Still, if you have any opinions comment them or you can message me on Tumblr @celestialgayy)


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